Ring traveler



Feb. 5, 1935. P. c. WENTWORTH 1,990,358

RING TRAVELER Filed Jan. 18, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 11 lfieilip GlVzeimorZ/magi I Patented Feb. 5, 1935 UNITED S' x GFFKE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to ring travelers of the type used in ringspinning or twisting. Such travelers are used on a spinning or twistingring having ahorizontal flange. V p

The tendency of the industry has been constantly towards greater spindlespeeds. As spindle speeds have increased the traveler has necessarilybeen required to operate at higher surface speeds. The matter oftraveler balance has therefore become increasingly important, for unlessthe traveler is in balance, it drags rather than -floats the ring.

Stroboscopic' examination of travelers heretofore considered standard inthe art has shownthe traveler to bebadly out of balance, ridinghigh onthering with all the wear coming between the innermost traveler horn andthe adjacent edge of the ring flange, due to the fact that the. centerof gravity of such travelers was not low enough to bring yarn tensionand centrifugal force into substantial counterbalance.

Various proposals for improving traveler per formance have been made,all looking towards bringing the traveler into better balance bydefinitelyloweringthe center of gravity of the traveler.

- I have myself patented several travelers heretofore wherein'asubstantial lowering of the center of gravity was achieved by reducingthe amount of .metal in the traveler bow. See my prior Patents-No.1,415,969of May 9, 1922; No. 1,512,254 of October21, 1924, and No.1,663,289 of March 20, 1928..

The travelers illustrated in said patents are the so-called regularcircle traveler with characteristically high center ofgravity. Byreducing the amount of metal in the bowof such a traveler, I succeededin lowering the center of gravity to a point substantially correspondingto the geometrical center or center of symmetry of the traveler.

. There is however apractical limit beyond which it is impossible to goin respect to reduction of weight in the bow area, so that any furtherlowering ofithe center of gravity of the traveler must 'be otherwiseaccomplished.

This I do in my present invention by a combination of factors eachmutually contributing to the desired result, viz, the lowering of thecenter of gravity to a point which is quite decidedly lower than anypoint possible to obtain in my prior patented travelers, thus to impartto the traveler a stability of equilibrium and counter-poise whichenables it to assume a more truly" gyroscopic or floating position onthe ring and to traverse the ring with .thexminimum of frictionalcontact.

According to my present invention I lower the center of gravity of thetraveler to a new low point both by.- reducing the amountof metal in thebow and by definitely dropping or lowering both the bow and the horns orterminals-of the traveler.

As a result,the center of gravity of my traveler is lowered to a pointwithin the ring flange, instead of above it as heretofore, and Iestablish as the principal zone of wearing contact between the travelerandthe ring a zone ofsmomentary contact between the under face of thetraveler bow and the top face of the ring flange, substantially totheexclusion of any wearing contact between the innermost traveler terminaland theadjacent edge of the ring flangeor ringweb.

The terms lowered or dropped or their equivalents, as used herein todescribethe lowered bow or loweredterminals-ofmy traveler are usedcomparatively with a regular circle traveler, that istosay, whenl.describe the bow and terminals of my traveler as having been lowered,Lmean that they are loweredwithrespect to the positions-which they wouldoccupy in a regularcirole traveler..

As illustrative of the principles of my invention Iv show in theaccompanyingdrawings several embodiments thereof which I have-foundhighly satisfactory under actualservice conditions and well adapted-tothe requirements of commercial manufacture.

In. such drawings:--

Fig. lis a perspective view' showing one embodiment of my invention inwhich the lowered center of gravity is attained by both lowering I thetraveler bow andthetravelerterminalswith respectto the positionswhichthey would occupy ina regular circle-traveler and :also by reducingthe amountof metal ,in the traveler bow by milling off equal amountsofthe metal at opposite edges of such bow.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing. another embodiment wherein-boththetraveler bow and the traveler terminals are loweredwithrespect .to. the.positions whichthey would occupy in a regularcircle traveler, the amountofmetal in the traveler bow being-reduced by removing some of the metalof the bow intermediate of its edges, as by slotting the same.

v Fig. 3 isa perspective View showing still another embodiment of myinvention wherein both the traveler: bow and the-traveler terminals areloweredwith-respectto the positions which they would occupy in aregular: circle traveler, the amount of metal-in the traveler bowbeing-ireduced by milling transversely across the bow, the traveler inthis embodiment presenting different cross-sectional configurations indifferent areas. the configuration of the bow being flat and that of theremaining areas of the traveler being oval.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing a still further modification inwhich both the traveler bow and the traveler terminals are lowered withrespect to the positions which they would occupy in a regular circletraveler, and wherein also the bow is given a concavo-convexconfiguration.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of still another embodiment of my inventionwherein the feature of Figs. 1 and 2 are combined.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a .still further embodiment of myinvention wherein the fea-.

tures of Figs. 1 and 3 are combined. Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic indicationthereof in operative position upon a ring, and Fig. 8 is a greatlyenlarged view showing the traveler of Fig. 2 superimposed on a regularcircle traveler for purposes of comparison, the regular circle travelerbeing shown in dottedlines. "In-all of the several embodiments of myinvention the traveler operates on the ringin real balance, having atruly floating action with minimum friction between the traveler and thering and with such friction as does occur coming essentially between theundersurface of the traveler bow and the top surface of the ring flange,substantially to the exclusion of any wearing contact between theinnermost terminal of thetraveler and the inner edge of the ring flange.

' With the principal 'zone of wearing contact thuscaused to come betweenthe traveler bow and the top surface of'the-ring flange, it is no longernecessary that the inner terminal of the traveler shall function as abearing horn against which the inner edge of the ring flange bears, and

such terminal therefore acts only as a retaining hook to keep thetravelerfrom flying off the ring flange in use. j

As a result of eliminating pronounced wear between the inner terminaland the ring flange, the traveler runs so lightly on the ring asactually to require the use of travelers which are from two to threenumbers heavier thanth'etravelers heretofore considered standard in theart in or- 'der to meet the same spinning'condition.

In all embodiments the traveler bow is indicated at 10, the travelerterminals at 11 and 12 and the oppositely arched lateral portions whichconnect the bow with the terminal portions are indicated at 13 and 14. I

v In all embodiments both the bow andthe terminals are lowered withrespect to the positions which they would occupy in a regular circletraveler. *This is indicated diagrammatically in Fig. 8, wherein theapproin'mate plane which the bow of a regular circle traveler R (shownin dotted lines in Fig. 8) such as have been long tually lowered-to apoint where it approximately coincides with the center of symmetry S ofmy 'tially included in the plane B-B (Fig. 8).

traveler.

new traveler. The distance that the center of gravity of my new travelerhas thus been lowered, as compared with the regular circle traveler, isalso graphically illustrated in Fig. 8 wherein the center of gravity ofthe regular circle traveler is approximately indicated by the referencecharacter G and its center of symmetry at S.

The distance G- G thus represents the actual amount that the center ofgravity of my new traveler has been lowered comparatively with thecenter of gravity of the regular circle traveler.

- As a result of the center of gravity of my new traveler being loweredthis appreciable distance, the principal wearing contact between ringand traveler comes between the under surface of the traveler bow and thetop surface of the flange 15 of the ring 16, as indicated at Z,substantially to the exclusion of any pronounced wearing contact betweenthe innermost terminal of the trav-. eler and the inner edge of the ringflange. The traveler therefore rides the ring with the minimum friction,the action being a floating action in which the traveler runs lightly onthe ring in true balance, as shown by the fact that when on the ring thecenter of gravity G is actually somewhere within the ring flange (seeFig. 7) instead of above it, as heretofore. Hence the traveler terminalsare no longer required to function as bearing portions adapted forwearing contact against the edge of the ring flange but simply serve asretaining hooks to prevent the traveler from flying off the ring in use.I

In all embodiments, the traveler bow is lowered with respect to theposition which it would occupy in a regular circle traveler and extendsas a substantially straight member, being substan- Such lowered bownotonly assists to lower the center of gravity of the traveler but beingstraightalso provides a better contact at Z with the'top face of theringflange, such contact bein'g'of course only a momentary contact accordingto the position of the ring rail. The straight area of the lowered bowin all forms of my new traveler is substantially equal to the width ofthe ring'flange 15 on which the traveler is designed to operate asclearly appears in Fig. 7.

The lowering of the center of gravity of the traveler may be furtherincreased by reducing the amount of metal in the traveler bow ascompared with that in the remaining areas ofthe This is variouslyillustrated Figs. 1, 2 and 3. 1

In Fig. 1 equal portions at the opposite edges of the traveler bow areremovedas by milling, as

indicated at 1'7.

In Fig. 2 some of the metal between the bow edges is definitelyremovedas by slotting, as indicated at 18. There may be one or moreslots in "the traveler bow, although as shown the bow has only a singleslot symmetrically thereof.

In Fig. 3 metal is removed fromthe traveler bow by milling ittransversely as indicated at 19.

,In this form of traveler the traveler is'mad'e from round or oval wire,the bowarea being flattened as indicated at 20 and transversely milledas at 19 to reduce the weight of the bow as compared with the remainingportions of the traveler.

In Fig. 4 the traveler bow is given'a concaveconvex formation, asindicated at-21,; the convexity being disposed towards the, ring flangeto provide a good contacting surface for momentary contact with the topface of the ring flange at zone Z.

In Fig. 5 the traveler bow has both the laterally milled cut-outs 17 ofFig. 1 and the central slot 18 of Fig. 2.

In Fig. 6 the traveler bow has both the laterally milled cut-outs 1'7 ofFig. 1 and the transversely milled cut-out 19 of Fig. 3.

Many other variants are possible, and the foregoing are only suggestiveof the many variations which may be made within the spirit and scope ofmy invention as defined by the appended claims.

What I therefore claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:-

1. A symmetrical traveler for use on a ring having a horizontal flange,consisting of a member having a straight bow, horns having terminalportions extending downwardly to be positioned beneath a ring flange,and curved connecting portions joining said bow and horns, said bowbeing of a length substantially equal to the width of the ring flange onwhich the traveler is designed to operate, some of the material in thebow being removed whereby to reduce the cross-sectional area of thematerial of the bow, the center of gravity of the traveler being loweredto a point within the ring flange whereby the principal wearing contactof the traveler with the ring flange is caused to come between the undersurface of the bow and the top surface of the ring flange substantiallyto the exclusion of wearing contact between the innermost terminalportion of the traveler and the inner edge of the ring flange.

2. A traveler as claimed in claim 1 wherein equal portions of the metalat opposite edges of the bow is removed. 7

3. A traveler as claimed in claim 1 wherein a portion of the metaltransversely of the bow is removed.

4. A traveler as claimed in claim 1 wherein equal portions of the metalat opposite edges of the bow is removed and wherein a portion of themetal transversely of the bow is also removed. PHILIP C, WENTWORTI-I.

